A similar maladjustment of the means of plastic art to the purposes of religion would have been impossible in Hellas, where the temples of Eros and of Phoebus stood side by side; but in Christian Florence the craftsman's skill sowed seeds of discord in the souls of the devout[8].
This story is but a coarse instance of the separation between piety and plastic art.

In truth, the difficulty of uniting them in such a way that the latter shall enforce the former, lies far deeper than its powers of illustration reach.

Religion has its proper end in contemplation and in conduct.

Art aims at presenting sensuous embodiment of thoughts and feelings with a view to intellectual enjoyment.

Now, many thoughts are incapable of sensuous embodiment; they appear as abstractions to the philosophical intellect or as dogmas to the theological understanding.